Sjp, $15, And A Whole Lotta Sweet P

How much do you love Sarah Jessica Parker! Such an adorable woman with a great outlook on fashion, and I for one think that this challenge, at this stage of the game, was brilliant. Spending $15 on fabric/supplies is a feat of its own, especially because they were buying fabric at a retail price point, not even wholesale - but most of them certainly made it work.To begin the episode, I was surprised to see that a majority of the designers stayed with the same model, especially considering that some of them are clearly better than others, but alas, to each his own. Also, I have yet to meet Ricky in person, but is it the stress of the cameras that are making him so emotional? The dear boy was tearing up at the model picking - and that wasn't even the first time! Sigh, I repeat yet again, to each his own, seeing as I simply prefer to suppress my emotions in lieu of exposing them to millions of people to judge and critique.

I love that while they were waiting for Tim to arrive, Rami suggests "Snow White" as the pop/fashion icon that they will be designing for... never say never Rami! Well, low and behold it was the gorgeous SJP rocking some freshly blown-out hair and a little fashion potato sack (which I love), and oh my gosh how sweet was Chris when he finally met his reason for moving to NYC in the first place?

So partner/team challenges can always be tricky territory, as we've all learned, as they're just asking for a volatile situation between two or more creative, opinionated people; turns out though that this one wasn't too bad. Aside from the awkwardness felt by Sweet P towards Elisa everyone worked fairly well with one another... not that it wouldn't have been a little humorous to see someone "cut-a-bitch" amiss the chaos of it all.During our season, we had a few team challenges and luckily I was on the other end for the choosing... but was it just me or was that painful to watch? I felt it was so "red rover red rover have the last person standing uncomfortably in front of a room full of people and millions of viewers come over!"... This show certainly makes you feel doesn't it?

Visions shared, fabric bought and the sewing begins (Yay, no broken machines yet!). We all can see that one of the best duos to watch is the Sweet P/Elisa combo and from hitting the ground running, they certainly don't disappoint! Yes, we're aware that Elisa enjoys a more natural approach to her designing, yes, we know that she likes stretch teal, and yes, we know that the final garment will be the last thing people are talking about tmrw, but I feel their entire interaction was summed up best when Sweet P inquisitively asks "Why do you spit on your fabric?" and Elisa responds matter-of-factly "Because I want to imbibe it with energy and essence..." Well duh, I bet Sweet P felt dumb for asking that one...

I do think in the end, that they found a great balance of craftsmanship and accessibility, as there was NO WAY that that garment would've gone into production and retailed for under $20 with all of that hand knotting Elisa had originally wanted to do. So great job to both of them for at least listening to one another, despite their different approaches to designing.

(Oh, and on a side note, I never realized that Tim wore a suit and tie even at the late-night, work room check-ins... he's probably in that thing for over 15 hours... now that is a fashion diva!) I also really admire Sweet P's attitude going into the elimination, stating that "I'm going to work, as hard as I have to work, to get a beautiful garment down the runway." I think this really encapsulates the positive energy of this duo as there were no excuses, or finger pointing, there was a job to get done and they were going to see it done - way to go you two (Do I sound like an encouraging soccer mom?)

Long story short, the looks walk the runway, Heidi looks gorgeous, yet again, and the grilling begins. I do think that Victorya's design was the strongest and most appropriate for the challenge. Her and Kevin also seemed to work together very well (or at least on camera they did) so props to them both for doing not only a great job of not killing one another, but a fantastic design as well!

Marion unfortunately got the boot, but justly so, as even he knows, the design just didn't work. Best of luck to Marion though, wherever he is, and let this be a lesson to all that bias knit is both your friend AND your enemy!